Could I have some maths help please.

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kiwifidget

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#195666 29-Apr-2016 08:16

This is a question that is on the Police Numeracy Assessment.

I don't understand it and neither does the MOTH, who is usually very good at these things. I do the spelling and he does the maths.

He did actually get the right answer but then couldn't explain how he got it and the more he explained the more confused we both got and eventually he conceded that he got it right by mistake.

Here is the question:

"5/3 is to 1/5 what 5 is to what?"

If anyone could explain how to work this out we would both be very grateful.

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#1543807 29-Apr-2016 08:24

To be honest, the question is so badly written it's hard to determine what it actually means. Are you sure you have transcribed all of it?

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Jase2985

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#1543808 29-Apr-2016 08:24

https://www.algebra.com/algebra/homework/NumericFractions/Numeric_Fractions.faq.question.765341.html

Inphinity

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#1543809 29-Apr-2016 08:25

I assume it's a proportional formula, so in theory...

(5/3)/(1/5)=5/x

(5/3)x=(1/5)*5

(5/3)x=1

x=1/(5/3)

x=3/5

kiwifidget

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#1543810 29-Apr-2016 08:28

Geektastic:

To be honest, the question is so badly written it's hard to determine what it actually means. Are you sure you have transcribed all of it?

We suspect this is the case, and that is the question in its entirety.

The answer is 1, but how?

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Geektastic

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#1543815 29-Apr-2016 08:33

To be honest I have yet to meet the average Plod who would be likely to know this one!

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#1543816 29-Apr-2016 08:35

Jase2985:

https://www.algebra.com/algebra/homework/NumericFractions/Numeric_Fractions.faq.question.765341.html

However this states the problem as

"5/3 is to 1/5 as 5 is to what?"

Which is not what the OP says the question is.

kiwifidget

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#1543818 29-Apr-2016 08:36

Geektastic:

To be honest I have yet to meet the average Plod who would be likely to know this one!

Ergo, the answer must be simpler than it looks.

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Jase2985

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#1543821 29-Apr-2016 08:41

Geektastic:

However this states the problem as

"5/3 is to 1/5 as 5 is to what?"

Which is not what the OP says the question is.

5/3 is to 1/5 as 5 is to what?

5/3 is to 1/5 what 5 is to what?

I don't know about you but that seems to say/imply the same thing to me

frankv

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#1543854 29-Apr-2016 09:36

There's a Police Numeracy Assessment?

I've always believed that there was no intelligence test to join the NZ Police.

The fact that the "correct" answer is given as 1 as opposed to 3/5 suggests that the situation is far worse... the Police apparently seek to avoid hiring people with numeracy skills. Perhaps this reduces Police payroll costs?

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#1543857 29-Apr-2016 09:40

frankv:

There's a Police Numeracy Assessment?

I've always believed that there was no intelligence test to join the NZ Police.

The fact that the "correct" answer is given as 1 as opposed to 3/5 suggests that the situation is far worse... the Police apparently seek to avoid hiring people with numeracy skills. Perhaps this reduces Police payroll costs?

I cannot see a way to arrive at the answer 1, can you?

SepticSceptic

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#1543862 29-Apr-2016 09:49

Any answer is correct ?

Grammatically and mathematically incorrect ....

trig42

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#1543867 29-Apr-2016 09:58

Weatherbeaten:

I agree that it is a poorly written question, but I did get 1.

Changing both fractions to a common denominator to make it easier to compare gives us:

25/15 and 3/15

As someone above said, I’m assuming the question is inferring a proportional relationship, and we can see that 25/15 is 5 times the value of 3/15.

So we are looking for an answer that is 1/5 of the value of 5 – i.e. the answer is 1.